Ginkgo in Huizhou County

Ginkgo in Huizhou County

Ginkgo from Huizhou County is a protected geographical indication product.

　　Ginkgo, also known as white fruit, is a rare and valuable tree species unique to China. Its entire tree is highly beneficial, serving various purposes including food, medicine, timber, landscaping, and ornamental use. It holds significant economic and medicinal value.

　　　　Located in the mountainous region of southern Gansu, Huizhou County has a long history of cultivating ginkgo due to its climate, soil, and other environmental factors. In Tianhe Village, Jialing Town, there still grow 153 ginkgo trees that are over a thousand years old, forming an extremely rare ginkgo grove rarely seen anywhere else in the country. However, due to limited access to information and a lack of awareness about the tremendous commercial potential of ginkgo trees, the villagers of Tianhe lived in poverty despite being surrounded by these “treasure trees” left by their ancestors. It wasn’t until 1994, when efforts were made to revitalize the local economy, that the county organized relevant personnel to visit places like Anhui, Shandong, and Hubei. There, they found that these areas had all made ginkgo a pillar industry for local economic development, which served as inspiration. Later, the people of Tianhe Village drew on the experience of other regions and leveraged their resource advantage in ginkgo to develop a tourism project called “Ginkgo Homestays,” creating a comprehensive tourism model that included eating ginkgo fruits, tasting ginkgo tea, and enjoying ginkgo scenery—achieving good economic results. This success helped drive the development of the ginkgo industry across the entire county. The Huizhou County Party Committee and County Government, taking into account the area’s natural conditions, decided to focus on developing the ginkgo industry as a means of enriching both the county and its residents. After more than eight years of persistent effort—and especially driven by the national policy of converting farmland back to forests under the Western Development Strategy—the county actively mobilized the public. Using multiple planting methods such as intercropping with grain, planting along field ridges, close-planting for early fruit yield, and afforestation of barren hills, they vigorously planted ginkgo trees. By 2002, the county had developed 136,000 acres of ginkgo plantations, totaling 7 million trees.

　　The administrative regions currently under the jurisdiction of 11 towns and townships in Huizhou County, Gansu Province: Liulin Town, Chengguan Town, Jialing Town, Fujia Town, Jiangluo Town, Niyang Town, Yongning Township, Shuiyang Township, Yuguan Township, Yinxing Township, and Lichuan Township.